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Get more meetings with more Decision Makers (part I)

Tags: Meetings | Impact | Leadership | Do more | Influencing

25th January

Getting meetings with Decision Makers (DMs) is hard.

They’re busy. They have other priorities. They even have gatekeepers, who are trained to keep you away from them!

It also can be horrible – cold calling, anyone?

Good news though – it can be easy and quick. It can even be nice.

Here are two tips for you (I’ll share more next week)

  1. Contacts first; strangers last

It’s easier to get a meeting with a DM who already knows you, than one who doesn’t.

So start by looking at your current contacts, to find DMs who do – or could – need what you do. This includes:

  • Bosses/colleagues you’ve spoken with before
  • Current customers who want to buy more
  • Past customers who want to buy again
  • Current contacts who are DMs in their companies
  • Past contacts who were interested once, but things didn’t work out – now might be a better time for them
  • Etc
  1. Get to verbal ASAP

Your aim is to have a verbal conversation with a DM. After all, it’s much easier to impress and influence them verbally, than it is in writing.

So, by all means, send them a short email, selling the benefits of a verbal chat with you.

But don’t send a long email, selling everything you want to say. They’re never going to read it, and/or buy into/from you!

And to ensure you sell that they should ‘go verbal’ with you…

… be clear on their benefits of a verbal meeting with you. Offer them something valuable to them – promise to tell them:

  • New ideas that will help them
  • New trends in their sector
  • New best-practices you’re seeing in other sectors, that they could use in theirs
  • New thought leadership on a topic that matters to them

(Note the word ‘new’ – unless it’s new, why should they see you!)

Action Point

Set up new meetings with DMs using these techniques – after all, they’re easy, quick and nice! And once you’re in the meetings, here’s how to impress them.